Navy team to explode Kahoolawe ordnance

They will dispose of seven gun projectiles and rocket propellant

Navy explosive ordnance experts will spend next week on Kahoolawe, where they will explode seven small Navy gun projectiles and a small amount of rocket propellant left over from days of military gunnery practice.

The Navy said the experts are members of the Pearl Harbor-based Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 -- Detachment Middle Pacific.

It will be the third time the Navy will dispose of a small quantity of newly discovered, not previously detected ordnance since it turned over the 25-square-mile island three years ago.

They are planning to dispose of seven small naval gun projectiles and less than 50 pounds of rocket motor propellant, according to the Navy statement.

The Navy is responsible for regular cleanups and removal of newly discovered bombs and other explosive devices.

In March 2004 the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission assumed control of the island, located six miles southwest of Maui.

Kahoolawe was used by the Navy as a target and training area from 1941 until 1990, when then-President George Bush ordered a halt to the exercises after years of protests and lawsuits by native Hawaiian groups. Congress authorized the cleanup in 1993.

Parsons-UXB began the cleanup in July 1998.

Kahoolawe has been set aside for cultural, educational and archaeological activities, with no commercial development allowed.